Bronowski's Ascent of Man was a thirteen-part television series that aired in 1973. There was a companion book that was nearly a verbatim transcript of the series, replete with many excellent illustrations. A copy of this book, purchased in 1973, sits on my bookshelf, and it attests to the permanence of "dead tree" media as contrasted with today's electronic media. I bought another copy for my father, who was interested in science and technology, and he would often refer to "Bronowski's book." Bronowski died just a year after the series aired,

This tradition is celebrated in a list of Great Books that influenced many students of my generation. As you can imagine, there has been much controversy as to what should be included on such a list. Mortimer Adler, whose name is most associated with the idea of the great books, published a list of 161 essential authors in 1940.[3] Forty-two of these wrote on scientific, mathematical and medical topics, and these appear as follow:

One artifact of the rapid progress that happens in science is that yesterday's theories have been replaced by better theories; and yesterday's experiments have been replaced by more precise measurements. Last week's science is so last week.

I'll finish this article with a memorable quotation attributed to Bronwski.

"The most remarkable discovery ever made by scientists, was science itself."

Title page of the Tanaquil Faber 1675 edition of De Rerum Natura by Titus Lucretius Carus.